Interlocking device for safe-doors.



No. 662,789, 1 Patented Nov. 27,1900, W. H. HOLLAR 8|. W. CURRY.

INTERLOGKING DEVICE FOR SAFE DOORS v (Application filed. my 31, 1900. (Ilo Model.) 2 Sheets-8huat l.

linrrrno Frames Parent? Orricn.

\VILLIAM H. HOLLAR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND WILLIAM CORRY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO; SAID COREY ASSIGNOR TO SAID HOLLAR.

INTERLOGKING DEVICE FOR SAFE-DOORS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 662,789, dated November 27, 1900.

Application filed May 31, 1900. serial No. 18,480. \llo model.)

To all whom it may cone 11% from the inside. As seen in section, Fig. 2, Beitknowu that we, WVILLIAM H. HOLLAR, this may be formed of heavy metal plates residing at No.4,506 Chesteravenue,in the city bolted together; but the nature and construcof Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and tion of the safe itself form no part of this in- 5 Stateof Pennsylvania, and \VILLIAM CORRY, vention. In this wall A is cut a circular residing at Prices Hill, in the city of Cincinaperture, by which entrance is to be had to nati, county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, the safe. The edges of this aperture are bevcitizens of the United States, have invented eled outwardly, and the incline of the bevel certain new and useful Improvements in Inmay preferably vary at one or more points 60 1o tel-locking Devices for Safe-Doors, of which with a shoulder interposed.

the following is a specification, reference be- B is a circular nonu-otatable door, formed ing had to the accompanying drawings. in this instance of a single piece of metal In said drawings, Figure 1 represents an having its edges beveled to correspond to interior elevation of the front Wall of the safe the bevel of the aperture. The hinges or 65 fitted withacircular door. Fig. 2isasection other means whereby this door is supported along the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an edge and swings into place are not shown, but

view of the circular door seen in Fig. 1. Fig. may be of any approved type. Near its in- 4 is a section along the line a 4 of Fig. 1. her side a circular groove 1) is cut around Our invention relates to a safe constructhe edge of the door. Between this groove 70 tion applicable to safes with circular doors, and the inner side of the door the edge has and relates to an interlocking device whereby formed upon it a series of lugs c c. As shown,

such a door may be locked in place afterit has these lugs are of the same width and depth.

been shut by the rotation of a serrated annu- Their peripheral surfaces are beveled at a lus attached to the inner wall of the safe and somewhat similar incline to the bevel of the 7;

without requiring the motion of any part conedge of the door, and their outer surfacesnected with or attached to the door itself. that is, those surfaces nearest the front of By the use of our invention We attain the the door-are also beveled, the bevel of each following advantages: lug being similar in direction and incline to First. The entire doorwith all its parts that of all the others. The spacesd d be- 80 may be made of a single piece. tween these lugs are cut away to adepth cor- Second. The intertocking surfaces may be responding to the depth of the circular groove increased to the maximum of one-half of the b, and these spaces (1 are preferably equal in entire edge of the door. width to the width of the lug 0.

Third. The opposition to the opening of The inner face of the front Wall of the safe 85 5 the door is not dependent upon any separable carries an annulus E, immediately surroundparts bolted or otherwise fastened to the ing the aperture and larger than it. This is door of the safe, but consists of a solid inemounted in a recess 6, cut into the wall at a tallic resistance which may be equal to oneplane which corresponds when the door is half of the edge of the door, so that the door shut to the groove Z). The thickness of the 90 can only be opened against the look by a door is preferablysuch that the inner edge of shearing action of this extent. We accomthe annulus is about flush with the inner-surplish this result by forming around the inner face of the front wall of the safe. \Vithin edge of the door a series of projecting lugs this groove the annulus slides rotatively, the with a groove behind them and by fitting the extent of said motion being controlled by the 5 inner edge of the safe with a serrated annuannular slots F, which receive the bolts f, set lus larger than the circle of the door, the serin the recess 6. The inner edge of the annurations consisting of lugs capable of interlus has formed upon ita similar series of lugs spacing or interlocking with the lugs on the gg, which correspond to the spaces dbetween inner edge of the door according to its posithe lugs c on the annulus E. The inner sides I00 tion of rotation. of these lugs are preferably beveled to corre- A, Fig. 1, is the front wall of a safe as seen spond to the bevels of the peripheral surfaces of the lugs c c. When the door is inserted into the aperture, the annulus is in the position seen in Fig. 1. The lugs of the door pass between the lugs of the annulus until the annulus is coincident in plane with the circular groove 19. A short rotation of the annulus throws the two sets of lugs into engagement with each other, and if, as is the case in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the spaces between the lugs and the lugs themselves have equalwidth the entire opposing surfaces of the two sets of lugs will be in close engagement, giving the maximum amount of resistance to an outward thrust. The mechanism by which the partial rotation of the annulus E is effected may vary and may be operated from without or from within.

As shown in Fig. 1, a portion of the outer periphery of the annulus E is fitted with teeth, which engage a toothed sector forming one end of the lever H, which is pivoted at It, and the opposite extremity of which (also toothed) is in engagement with a rack-bar J, which may be thrown by a set spring released by the action of a time-lock. The details of this part of the mechanism, however, form no part of this invention and need not now be described.

We are aware that it is not new to lock the circular door of a safe by means of interlocking lugs. Hitherto, however, this has been done by affixing a serrated circular plate to the inside of the door, by the rotation of which in one or the other direction the door is locked or unlocked. It is obvious, however, that in such an arrangement the resistance to the opening of the door and lock can only equal the resistance of the bolts or other means employed to hold this plate upon the inside of the door, and as the connection of this plate to the inside of the door must be one capable of admitting rotation it is evident that by this construction the advantage of the increased locking-surface which is afforded by the series of interlocking lugs such as we have described is done away with, since the point of least resistance is not the locking-surface, but the union between the rotatable disk and the door.

In our invention the employment of the serrated annulus larger than the door-aperture and rotating within it enables us to make the entire door and its lugs integral, and thereby to throw upon the interlocking surfaces themselves the resistance to the opening of the door, which, as we have explained, may, by making the lugs and the spaces between them equal, be increased to one-half of the length of the periphery of the door.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- The locking mechanism for circular safedoors, which consists in the combination of a circular non-rotatable door with a series of lugs formed integrally around the inner edge thereof; an internally-serrated annulus, fitted to the inner edge of the door-aperture, the serrations of which consist of a series of lugs projecting into the door-opening and capable of interlocking andinterspacing with thelugs around the inner edge of the door according to the rotative position of the annulus; and means for rotating the annulus so as to lock or unlock the door, substantially as described.

WILLIAM H. HOLLAR. WILLIAM COREY.

Witnesses as to Wm. H. Hollar:

JAMES H. BELL, E. REESE.

Witnesses as to Wm. Corry:

CHARLES F. DROSTE, FRANK OURRAN. 

